Ijfventor



4 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

G. W. BOMAN.

OIGAR ROLLING MACHINE.

Patented Aug. 21, 1888.

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(No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. W. BOMAN.

CIGAR ROLLING MACHINE.

No. 388,174. Patented Au 21, 1888.

WITNESSES iozwnzzyewzl 11v VEJVTOR W .dttorney (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

- O. W. BOMAN.

CIGAR ROLLING MACHINE.

No. 388,174. Patented Aug. 21, 1888.

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OIGAR'ROLLING MACHINE.

No. 888,174. Patented Aug. 21, 1888.

WITNESSES INVENTOR- I uflttorney N. PETERS Phuio Lvlhngmphcr Wnshmgion. o. c.

horse STATES .arnnr Erica.

CLAES XVM. ROMAN, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

CiGAR -ROLLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,174, dated August 21, 1888.

Application filed March 30, 1888. Serial No. 26?,989. (No model.)

T 0 aZZ whom iii may concern.-

Be it known that I, CLAIGS WM. BOMAN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cigar-Rolling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The machine to which this invention relates is one intended to facilitate the application of wrappers to cigars.

The invention has reference principally to the construction and arrangement of the devices which receive and hold the bunch or filler of tobacco during the operation of applying the wrapper thereto. It refers, also, to means for guiding the wrapper at the point where it is first applied to the filler,and to the means by which the wrapping of the point of the cigar is effected. The devices which re ceive and hold the bunch or filler of tobacco consist of a series of rolls, which are powerdriven to revolve all in the same direction and have their peripheries so shaped that when they are placed together there will be inclosed by them a space, (which, for convenience sake,l will term the moldspacefl) the shape and dimensions of which approximate those which the completed cigar is to have. These rolls normally bear from all sides with yielding or spring pressure upon the bunch of tobacco placed in the mold-space, and they are made capable of spreading apart, so as to relieve the cigar from pressure and to allow it to be removed endwise from between them, for which latter pn rpose I provide an ejector which moves lengthwise of the mold-space, and is adapted to push the cigar longitudinally out from between and beyond the ends of the rolls to a position where it can readily be taken hold of. The rolls can yield automatically, each independently of the other, so as to conform to the bunch of tobacco; and this bunch, by reason of its contact with the rolls,is caused also to revolve. The rolls are supported at only the ends which adjoin the end of the mold-space, in which the butt of the cigar lies. At their other ends they are free, leaving an open space, into which the cigar can be pro jected when the rolls are spread apart. At this end of the machine there is a thimble, so called, which receives and supports the point or tip of the cigar, and this thimble is made movable, so that it can be drawn back from the pointafter the cigar is finished. XVith the rolls I combinea. tilting or movable guide plate, by means of which the point of the wrapper as it enters between the rolls can be directed above or beneath the filler, according as the wrapper is a right-hand or a left-hand wrapper; and I also provide a special construction of thimble, to be hereinafter more fully described, by which the wrapping and finishing ofthe pointofthe cigar are greatly facilitated.

The nature of my improvements and the manner in which the same are or may be carried into effect will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of the machine. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation of that end of the machine in which the rolls are supported. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal vertical central section of the machine. Fig. 5 is a section showing the guide-plate in two positions. Figs. 6 and 7 are face views of the two standards through whichthe shafts of the rolls pass. Fig. 8 is a similar view of the spreader, by the action of which the rolls are spread apart. Fig. 9 is a detached view of the rolls and their appurtenances in the position which they occupy when spread apart.

A is the drivingshaft jonrnaled in standards B O. This shaft can be driven from any suitable prime mover. In the presentinstancc it is supposed to be rotated by hand, for which purpose it is provided with a crank-handle, A. The shaft has upon it the main drivingpinion a.

D represents the rolls. They consist, preferably, of metallic rods surrounded by rubber composition or othersuitable slightlyyielding material. Their peripheries are so shaped that when placed together, as shown in the drawings, they will inclose a space, hereinbefore termed by me the moldspace, which in shape and dimensions approximates the shape and dimensions of the cigar to be wrapped. The shanks D of these rolls pass through slots 12 0 formed, respectively, in the standards B G, and they carrylike pinions d, which mesh with the central pinion, a. Thus when the drivingrecti on upon which the lever formed by each roll proper, D, and its stem D can vibrate, this vibration,owing to the radial arrangement and formation of the slots 11 and a, being from a center common to all the rolls. Oonsequentl y the rolls when spread apart will diverge or separate from one another a greater distance as they recede from this center, and consequently the free ends of the rolls when opened will be spread wide apart, so as to permit the ready, insertion or withdrawal of the cigar. The rolls thus spread apart are shown in Fig. 9. They are normally held together in closed position by spring-power, so that they may bear upon the cigar with yielding pressure,

each roller being capable of individually adapting itself within small limits (which is all that is needed) to the particular part of the cigar on which it may from time to time bear. One convenient spring arrangement for this purpose is shown in the drawings, consisting of the closely-wound spiral spring E encircling the hubs of the rolls.

In order to open the mold-space, I provide what I term a spreader, consisting of the plate F, centered on shaft A as an axis,and provided with cam-slots f, through which the shanks D pass. These slots have a width equal to the diameter of shanks D, and have a length sufficient to impart the necessary spread to the rolls. Normally, thcspreader is held by a spring, e, in a position in which the rolls are closed. By rotating thcspreader (by means of its handle F) against the stress of its springs the rolls will be spread apart. As soon, however, as the spreader is released the rolls will spring together again as far as permitted by the filler or bunch of tobacco upon which they .close. Manifestly,when the bunch or filler of tobacco is thus inclosed by the rolls when the latter are put in motion, the filler, by its frictional contact withthem, will be caused to revolve so long as the rolls are in revolution. I have thus amold-space inclosed on all sides by self-adj usting rolls which bear with yielding pressure upon the cigar con tained in said space, the arrangement being such that the rolls can, when desired, be spread apart so as to permit of the endwise insertion or withdrawal of the cigar.

To facilitate the withdrawal of the cigar, a pusher-rod or ejector, G, may be employed. For this purpose the ejector passes axially through shaft A, which is made hollow, and normallyit is retracted by a spring, 9, so that its end will not project into the mold-space.

.Wrappers are classed,usually, as right-hand or left-hand wrappers, according as they are taken from the right or left side of the central stem of the tobacco-leaf. A right-hand wrapper, in order to be properly applied, must, as it enters, pass, say, up above the filler, while, on the other hand, a left-hand Wrapper must pass beneath the filler. To afford a way of properly guiding the wrapper under these varying conditions,I place between the two rolls D, which adjoin the table H on which the workman spreads the wrapper, a guide-plate, I. This plate is placed at the butt-end of the mold-space,where the wrapper first enters,and it is mounted on an axle, h, on which it can tilt. When tilted in one direction, its inner end, as seen in Fig. 5, will be moved toward the lower roll, and its outer end will be lifted, so that the point of the wrapper will pass from the table H under the plate, thence between it and the lower roll, and then, as it is carried in, it will be caught between that roll and the filler, and will thus be carried along under the filler, after which the wrapper will proceed as usual. When, on the other hand, the guideplate is tilted so that its inner end is raised into contact with the upper one of the two rolls D, as seen also in Fig. 5, its outer end will be depressed so as to rest upon the plate, and the point of the wrapper will pass into the machine, up over the plate, between it and the upper roll, and thence up over the filler. Of course it will be understood that for a righthand wrapper the rolls are to be revolved in one direction,and for a left-hand wrapper they are to be revolved in the opposite direction.

The axle h takes bearing in the inner standard, B, and it is held in one of the two positions above indicated by any suitable catch, consisting in this instance of a pin, h, on an arm, h, of the axle, which takes into one or the other of two notches formed in the spring catch-plate t, which is attached to the outer standard, 0.

The point of the cigar (which is the part most difficult to wrap) projects out from the mold-space and beyond the free .ends of the rolls D, and is supported in what is termed a thimble, which in the main machineshown in the drawings consists of a plate, J, having an approximately-conical cavity, j, in its upper face, with the base of the cavity on that end of the plate next to the rolls. It is essential in the arrangement I have shown in the drawings that the thimble should be capable of movement to and from the moldspace, not only to adapt itself to varying lengths of cigars, but also to permit it to be moved far enough away from the end of the rolls to allow the cigar to be readily inserted in and withdrawn from the mold-space. To this end it is carried by a head-stock, K, which slides longitudinally of the machine in guides k and can be held in adjusted position by a setscrew, 70'. It is also desirable thatthe thimble should be capable of vertical adjustment, and to this end it is secured to a standard, k, adapted to slide vertically in guides in the head-stock K and held in adjusted position by a set-screw, 70 It is further desirable, and, indeed, necessary, to have interchangeable thimbles of varying patterns as required for different shapes of cigars, and for this purpose the thimble itself is made removable from and adjustable upon its standard k",being held thereto by a set-screw, 70*; Over the cavity j in the thimble extends the finger 1, formed and arranged as shown in the drawings, the funcu will move with it.

tion of this being to smooth and hold down and direct the wrapper at the point, and thus to aid in finishing the wrapper of this end of the cigar.

It is desirable to cut off the surplus part of the wrapper at the point of the cigar and to so shape this end of the wrapper that it shall make a complete and finished point. To this end I recess the plate J beyond the thimblecavityj, and I give this edge the outline required for the end of the wrapper, as seen at m. This edge forms one member of a cutter or shears,the other member of which is formed by the cutter-plate L, hinged to the thimbleplatcJ at Z, and having an acting cuttingedge, Z, which has the shape of and co-oper ates with the stationary edge at. The cutter L normally stands up, so that the end of the wrapper as it reaches the point will pass under it and over the thimble-plate. The cutter is then depressed by hand, cutting off the surplus portion of the wrapper and leaving its end so shaped that it will, when wrapped in place, form a finished point for the cigar. The cutter when lowered has in it a small cavity, j, which forms the continuation and apex of the thimble-cavityj in the plate J.

The operation of the machine has been sufficiently indicated in the course of the preceding description, and does not require to be set out here.

I remark that the thimble-stock K can be connected to the pusher or ejector G, so that when the ejector is moved the thimble-stock This can readily be effected by securing to the thimble-stock an actuating-rod, N, adapted to slide in guides in the standards B G, and connected to the ejector by an arm, 0, attached at one end to the pusher-rod and at the other end secured adjustably to the rod N by means of a set-screw passing through a socket in the arm into or against the rod N, as indicated in Fig. 2.

The cutter L can be turned up by means of a handle, L, or in any other suitable way.

In lieu of the form of thimble already described I can use any other suitable form.

Having now described my improvements and the manner in which the same are or may be carried into effect, what I claim herein as new and of my own invention is as follows:

1. In cigar-rolling machines, a cigar-receiving mold formed of a set of spring-closed individually-yielding power-driven rolls with an opening at one end for the endwise insertion and withdrawal of the cigar, in combination with a spreader individually connectedto each roll, whereby all of said rolls are simultaneously spread apart at that end. of the mold through which the cigar is inserted and withdrawn, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, with spring closed, yielding, power-driven rolls, inclosing a cigarmold space, access to which is had from one end of the rolls, and mechanism for spreading said rolls apart so as to open the mold at that end, of a support movable to and from said end to permit the cigar to be inserted in and withdrawn from the mold, and a tip-forming thimble carried by said support, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The spring-closed power-driven cigarmold rolls, supported at one end only and iiiclosing at their other end an opening through which the cigar is inserted and withdrawn from between them, and mechanism for spreading the rolls apart, in combination with asupport movable to and from the said entrance end of the rolls, and a tip-forming thimble carried by said support, substantially as and for the purposes hereiubefore set forth.

4;. The combination of the rolls D, the slot ted standards B G, in which said rolls are supported at one end only, the spreader F, the drivingshat't, and the gearing for communicating motion from said shaft to said rolls, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination, with'the spring-closed power-driven rollsinelosingacigar-mold space, access to which is had from one end of the rolls, and mechanism for spreading the rolls apart, ofa support movable to and from this end of the rolls, and a tip-forming thimble and a cutter for shaping the point end of the wrapper, both of which are carried by said support, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

6. The combination, with the spring-closed power-driven cigar-mold rolls, inclosing at one end an opening through which the cigar is inserted endwise between them, and mechanism for spreading the rolls apart, of the thimble head-stock located at this end of the rolls and movable therefrom so as to leave said opening unobstructed, and the thimble carried by and adjustable upon said head-stock, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

7. The combination of the rolls A, inclosing a mold-space into which a cigar is inserted endwise from one end of the rolls, the support and tip-forming thimble carried thereby, located at and movable from this end of the rolls so as to uncover the entrance end of the mold, and the ejector adapted to operate upon the cigar from the opposite end of said mold, said thimble-support and ejector being connected to move simultaneously and together, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

8. The combination of the rolls, the table, and the guide-plate pivoted or hinged above the plane of the table and adapted to tilt with relation to the table, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 23d day of March, A. D. 1888.

CL AES \VM. ROMAN.

IVitnesses:

JAcoUns LnvY, SAMUEL IiRAUS.

IIO 

